Washington DC: Researchers Dr Yang Jianli and Dr Han Lianchao of Citizen Power Initiative for China hosted a meeting to discuss the outline of their research on ‘Religious securitization in Tibet and East Turkestan’. Expert Eric Brown, East Turkestan leaders and activists, Mr Omer and Ms Zubayra along with Tibetan counterparts, Rinchen Tashi from the International Campaign for Tibet and Chinese Liaison Officer Tsultrim Gyatso joined the meeting to share their thoughts on the research study.
The research study focuses specifically on China’s securitization of religious freedom, with Dr Han’s outline of the study laying down the origin of CCP’s religion policy and enumerating various policies that Chinese regime imposed in Tibet and East Turkestan for the past decades. In addition, the study reviews the structured system that CCP has established and their functioning at each level of administrative power in the regions.
Destruction of religious sites and discrimination towards practitioners in Tibet and East Turkistan was covered in detail in the introduction of the outline. The research is expected to include policy recommendations after Dr Han Lianchao completes his fact-checking of the findings.
The Citizen Power Initiative for China reached out to the Office of Tibet regarding this study, accordingly, Representative Ngodup Tsering connected Dr Han with the Tibet Policy Institute in Dharamsala. The Office of Tibet expressed their appreciation to Dr Yang Jianli and Dr Han Lianchao for their initiative and addressing the root of the issues Tibetans face. Furthermore, they expressed hope that this research would serve as a reference source for the general public to learn about in length, the religious destruction that securitization has brought to Tibet and East Turkestan.
–Filed by Office of Tibet, Washington DC